Just before SHOT Show, Kimber—known for semi-automatic pistols, 1911 variants in particular—announced that they’d be debuting a revolver at Industry Day.

I’ll be very honest here… most of the gun industry media I spoke too was skeptical on the bus ride to the range, thinking it was maybe a SHOT Show gimmick to generate some industry buzz.

Then a funny thing happened.

We shot it.

And it was good.

The little six-shot, .357-magnum-chambered Kimber K6s revolver was pleasing to the eye, and had great sights for a snub-nose, and both the front and rear are replaceable if you decide you need something else.

The double-action-only trigger was smooth, and I’m sure that with practice, you could learn to shoot it fast and accurately.

Best of all the all steel frame simply soaked up recoil. Most snub-nosed .357s are unpleasant to shoot. The K6s was not. I thought I was shooting .38 Special ammo, and did a literal double take when I saw the headstamp on the cartridge case.

Far from being a “show gun,” it looks like the Kimber K6s is going to make a lot of folks give revolvers a hard second look as a powerful option for concealed carry or as a backup gun.

You can read more about the K6s at Kimber America.